Pete acting crazy. Portland running is kinda like Portland cx.

Another great post by Dave Moulton.

We watched CB4 last night. holy shit, I forgot how funny that movie is.

I remember back when I was bashing the movie Hustle and Flow, m effers need to recognize CB4 has been there, done that.

Fear of a black hat is next.

Veloshop rider Jimmy Udall won the cat 3 sprint at the local banana belt race last weekend.

SWEET!

I finally managed a 2 hour ride on Sunday and got dropped about ten times.

Sweet!!

cough. cough.

Still hacking.

Trying to get back into a training routine. being sick left me feeling so drained and weak. It has been over a week and I’m still coughing and feeling tired as hell. Cry me a river.

This is classic. Good job Sager.

Thanks Joe Staples. Damn, that video brings back memories.

So does this one. I ran. A lot.

Thanks Jeremy:

Wow.

Have not been that sick in a long time.

Finally snapped out of it. Though now I have a lingering hacking cough.

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Man, the kids love to hate RockRacing! I’ve heard more shit talking than I can handle about the Rock squad over the last few weeks.

“Villains!”

“Scoundrels!”

“They are ruining cycling!”

Not quite but, it is really entertaining to watch the real life drama unfold. I mean, come on. You know it is. Will they start riders? Will they pull off a stage win? Is the bubble going to burst? Will their paychecks bounce? The whole thing is just a little tiny bit sad when observed from a distance.

And for me, the distance is pretty great.

It struck me how little I give a crap about pro cycling anymore. (though while I was sick I was up each morning for the live coverage of Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne and Het Volk and that was pretty exciting)

I used to care about the PRO bike racing. It was fun to follow the riders and watch the drama unfold, we all had our little heroes and would root for them as the season progressed. First came the spring classics, then the Giro and the build up to the Tour, finally Worlds and the Giro di Lombardia, etc would close out the year. I should admit I was pretty pumped to see Slipstream riders in the break both days in Belgium last week. But, the passion to keep watching is gone.

Much like this season of LOST for most people. The magic is gone, staying up to watch the new episode does not hold much glamor anymore. The honeymoon is over.

I’ll still be excited for Paris-Roubaix, Paris-Nice and Fleche Wallone. But the cast of characters has blurred. And my interest is waning.

What could get me excited about the bicycle game again?

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I answered the phone today and the person on the other time had a hard time believing that I was Molly. They laughed at me and hung up after I said who I was a couple times.

“this is molly?”
this is.
“this is molly?”
uh-huh
“this is molly?”
look, can I help you with something?

I forgot that people have difficulty with my name being Molly.

I forget too, people that don’t really know me sometimes say “he” when they talk about me. And I had to remember to mention it to some pals at the Organic Athlete team camp. It never really bums me out but, it does end up being confusing for people I am not around all of the time. My close pals say she, the foreigners say he. Until I do a little explaining.

I have to do a lot of a little explaining.

cough.

Sick!

Ugh…

After 4 days of Portland style epic downpour/long rides in California, half the people at the team camp came down with something bad.

Spreads like wildfire in a couple of cramped hotel suites.

I feel miserable.

Been in bed with a fever for 4 days straight.

The flu.

cough, cough.

I got nothing. No photos, no links.

I’m down here in Windsor, California for the OA team camp.

There is a solid 30 of us or so here. Logging the miles in rainy, windy, cold California.

The food has been off the hook and it is excellent to meet all of my roadie team mates and local OA chapter riders attending.

There is a hurricane rolling in today, the locals are boarding up the windows.

Been following the Tour of California on TV, Doug is riding really well!

Sager made Velonews headlines dealing a crushing blow to Evan Plews down in Texas at some marathon XC race.

That’s it. All I got.

Off to brave the storm.

And no, I am not getting a bamboo bike.

I prefer the taste of Vanilla.

There is a hot tub here. And a heated pool.

…like a month ago, January 20th or something! I busted out the smoke and mirrors to finish 4th place. The trip was fun and I am way overdue to write about it and write about the wrap up to my cx season…

I’m about to pull a Sager and fly south for a couple of days. (wait, I did that already.)

Then right back Friday evening.

Then right back down again next Wednesday. (now, this Wednesday.)

Team camp!!

Going to SF for a long weekend next week for the Organic Athlete spring team camp. What is a team camp you ask? Well, I get to show off my absent fitness to a bunch of road racer type pals.

(written last week)
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The bike fit seminar I attended was stellar. It was a whirlwind trip down to SF and back, I barely made my return flight by 10 minutes.

It is true, last week was off the hook.

Re-kindled new connections with old friends and fired up new connections with new friends!

I’ve got photos to post and gossip to share.

But first, I am going to shave my legs tonight. Watch out, that means I am getting serious.

I did 3 hours on the mountain bike and I bonked pretty hard.

Look out world!

The North American Handbuilt Bicycle Show starts next Friday.

The party begins this Thursday evening with the Teams of Portland show. The directions from the Veloshop are here.

Saturday the NAHBBS opens to the public and I know of 2 exciting after party events for those interested:

Want to see more?

Rapha is hosting roller races on Saturday evening after the NAHBBS, 8pm a few blocks away from the Veloshop. It is going to be hilarious. The Veloshop has a few 3 person teams attending.

There is also a BikePortland.org after party being thrown Saturday evening. AKA: Pints, prizes and a benefit!

Pretty much every bike industry person I know is going to be in Portland for this event. Or at least, all of the “good” bike industry people I know are going to be in town for this event.

I expect the NAHBBS show to blow interbike away. (at least, for me. Plenty of DBs in the world but, the bike folks that care and understand how special and important artisan and handbuilt cycling products are will be in attendance. And those are the people I am excited about.)

I think there are at least 5 new framebuilders in Portland that started up within the last year. I think 3 new bike shops too. There is a reason so much good shit comes out of Portland and the events surrounding the NAHBBS will allow you a glimpse why.

Hoping that it is pouring rain and sleet all next week. That will keep the delicate balance in check. You’ve got to be hard to ride in this shit everyday. We want to you to come to Portland but have no illusions:

10 months of the year. full fenders.

Thanks Gewilli for the heads up about this:

I got myself outsprinted by his old man down in LA a couple weekends ago, nice movie Chance.

Got my De Rosa Rock Racing team replica bike in today, photos to come. I’m just such a big fan, I had to get one. I think instead of carbon fibers they are using strands from a pair of blue jeans! How sick is that?! booo-ya!

In real news: I need to sit down and post a report from the LA UCI cross race my time spent at the LA UCI Track World cup and the last leg of my Euro trip. I’ve got a tons of photos but not enough time and energy to go through them.

Had a fucked up dream last night… I can never sleep anymore. I think it was the wind, it has been crazy windy round here the last few days. I think I am going to end up as one of those stressed out workaholics you read about overdosing on sleeping pills.

Besides that, I’ve got nothing. No juicy news. I was going to go to Seattle for the weekend, now I am not. Maybe I’ll go snowboarding? Maybe I’ll think about riding and then decide to sit around and watch episodes of 30 Rock. I’ve got a crush on Tiny Fey.

So, I sit analyzing my racing season, go jogging and await the LOST season premiere:

This is the time of year all my pals and I sit around and say “why was I so slow last season?” and we stutter and stammer and look at the data and plan and sketch and plan and talk about all the racing we are going to do and how excited we are for next cx season!

Periodization? Is there any truth to it? Or can you be just as fast if you race all year round? I figure, I busted my ass so hard training and planning last season and had a pretty unsuccessful go of it. If I just fuck around and ride my bike as much as I want all year, I can’t do any worse. Or can I?

Ruminating with my pal Zac about training super hard and getting top 15s and not training at all and getting top 15s. Does it matter at all? Is all the training and logs and data all pointless? It does seem a little to me like a crap shoot, some years you are on fire, some years everything is just off.

I am pumped for next cx season already but, I am NOT pumped to do much more traveling. I am burned out on the traveling scene. I love it and hate it. You cannot really train while you are traveling and you can not quite recover much either.

So uh, maybe I’ll be around Portland a little more next fall.

This recent bit of info was pretty good:
“Don Leet = The first mountain bike race in Oregon was the Cascade Cruise, put on by Century Cycles circa 1983 or so. At least this is what I remember. The notable attendees to that race were Carl Decker, John Howcroft and I.”

Carl, you are younger than me and still an old bastard.

1983, geez! I did not even know what a bicycle was!

For serious.

The thing I love about this photo: we all know it is the guy from the wikipedia cyclocross entry.

I’m getting back in to the groove of living in Portland, Oregon. Did a night ride on the VTT with brian.cx and another frozen mountain bike ride with Madrone and brian today out in Scapposse. (did I spell that right?)

Stuff with RockRacing is keeping me entertained, I get to prank call all my cycling friends and do impressions: “yes, this is Michael Ball calling from ROCKRacing, I’ll ring him again later.” But the doping bastards are a double edged sword. Entertaining as shit to watch the follies from afar but, a pal of mine may get shafted out of races or results because of it.

That is another topic for another time… but, c’mon “john doe” we all KNEW it was Kayle. I mean tattoos are a clear sign you are a doper right?

All I am saying is, I’m not shaving my legs at all this season and yes, you should feel silly if I beat you in any race, any time this year.

For serious.

Nothing better than going on fun rides, drinking coffee and making breakfast with Pete right now. The Veloshop ran great while I was away, I’m proud of my co-workers and stoked that the shop is busy enough to keep more than a few of us working and well paid.

Still lots of catching up to do. Paperwork, bikework and taxes await!